Thankfully the weather forecast for Sunday was better, so after a quick text-around last night tads agreed to have one last ride out before the winter arrives.
Set off at 11:00 and after a jaunt around the wet & leafy back lanes of Cheshire ended up down by the river in Chester for a coffee stop, S on his lovely Yamaha XJR1300 anniversary and D on his newly acquired (and insanely quick) Yamaha V-max. Had a very positive reaction from the boys, then had the same from another motorcyclist who singled me out to to discuss what he was looking at and thanked me for bringing it out before I left.
Dropped into local bike store J&S for another quick pit stop, then home for a wash n dry by 15:30 - around 120km all in which was enough for the post-build shake down.
The good:
Rides lovely. instantly felt at home like I had been riding it for years.
Front end much improved with the SDBV forks, very noticeable even after 8 mile prior test ride.
Engine like silk.
Clutch & gears perfect
Brakes lovely and progressive
Easy to maneuver at low speed
Confident grip feedback in the wet
The bad:
Rear a little stiff under bump, will look to reduce pre-load
Seat also stiff, might consider rebuild with gel insert
Speedo zero seemingly random, looks like I have a broken internal gear
Gear selector too low (easy one spline adjustment when home)
Clutch bite point quite late on lever
Noticeable "click" from chain for first few hundred yards
All in all, a successful outcome, with a little work to do over winter.
